About my Detroit test drive in the new 2014 Jeep Cherokee

Just hopped out of the all new Jeep Cherokee and I gotta say, I liked it quite a bit. Grateful to my friends at Ray Laethem Motor Village for letting me take it for a spin.

First off, even though it’s a 4×4, it doesn’t really feel like one when you’re on the road. In full disclosure, I didn’t take it off the road to see how it truly shines. But let’s face it, how often do we really take cars, even Jeeps, “off-roading”? As such, it’s probably better to have it play nice with the roads.

This vehicle has plenty of pep, handles nicely and feels like it really grips the road (especially in the rain I was driving in). And although I didn’t take it on the highway, I did sense the smoothness of the 9 speed (that’s right, count em 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 speed) transmission. I also found the interior to be particularly comfortable and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the headrest (I know, odd, but it felt like an honest to goodness headrest where one could actually rest their head).

The steering wheel was loaded with controls, and this vehicle is full of the latest technology. If you haven’t seen the U-Connect (Chrysler’s take on integrated radio, xm, gps, bluetooth and more) it’s totally worth it. This “command center” is intuitive, easy to see and very comprehensive. It makes you feel like you are in control and everything is at your fingertips.

This vehicle will comfortably fit five and still have room for luggage, dogs or what not. As an added bonus, the rear seats both split and fold down so you have options on how you configure the backspace. Another cool feature of this car was the “peek a boo” storage in the passenger seat. Literally, you lift up the bottom cushion in the passenger seat and you can put stuff there. HERE IS A UPLOAD OF A VIDEO of the vehicle I drove so you can see this in full effect. (Below are pictures of a different vehicle I took photos of last week. Like my first attempt at photo grid?)

I’ve heard a lot of people say this vehicle is “ugly” and that they don’t like the front end styling. The first time I saw it, I kind of agreed, but I do feel like it has grown on me. I also think it looks really cool from other angles too. I’m not sure how much you can take my word on it though. At one point, we had an Aztec in the family (I blame my wife. Honestly, loved that car as long as I didn’t see one coming at me. And if it’s good enough for Walter White…).

Some of the other particulars people may find interesting:

Up to 31 mpg…that’s pretty good for a Jeep.

70 Safety and Security features

Two engine choices

Available 4×4 or 4×2

4 available trim levels

Pricing ranging from low to high $20’s. with some pretty good lease deals

If my wife wasn’t set on having at least a 2.7 seats per person in our 3 person family ratio, I would make sure this vehicle was on our list. The good news is I have about 14 months to work on her before our 8 passenger Dodge Durango (which we love) lease is up.